The Chinese Communist Party has unveiled its new Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), a seven-member group representing the pinnacle of political power in China. Led by the CPC Secretary-General and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the elite committee, appointed after a week-long ruling party convention, is the country's highest decision-making body.
All committee members are Xi's protégés and allies. "The new Politburo Standing Committee firmly confirms in that Xi has consolidated power at the head of the Communist Party on a scale not seen since the Mao era," said Neil Thomas, senior China analyst at the Eurasia Group, told AFP's The Associated Press, referring to China's founding leader Mao Zedong. "Xi has installed allies in every seat of the Communist Party's highest decision-making body, allowing him to dominate the political system for the foreseeable future.
The following are the men who will rule China over the next five years, in order of seniority. The 69-year-old was re-elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party, paving the way for a third term. as Chinese President at the government's annual legislative sessions next March. Xi lifted the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to rule indefinitely. First appointed CCP general secretary in 2012, Xi has consolidated his power through a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, reaffirmed the role of the state sector in the economy, expanded the military and led a crackdown on civil rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Decision making.
Li Qiang has been party secretary of Shanghai, China's largest city and financial center, since 2017. His rise to number two in the party hierarchy makes it likely that he will be appointed prime minister in next March's legislature. It would be an unusual appointment given that, unlike most previous prime ministers, Li has no experience as a deputy prime minister managing departments in the central government. year in which residents had no access to food and medical care. This "shows everyone that loyalty, not popularity, is the key to your promotion," tweeted Yang Zhang, an assistant professor at American University in Washington.
"The disaster of the Shanghai blockade did not stop Li's rise precisely because he followed Xi's orders despite criticism. province between 2004 and 2007. Since 2017, Zhao Leji has headed the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, the party's feared body to review corruption and other wrongdoings. This made him a key figure in the
Xi campaign to bring party members into line. sometimes referred to as a means of eliminating opponents and gaining loyalty.
Zhao, 65, is now set to head the National People's Congress, the largely ceremonial legislature that meets in full session only once a year and whose deliberations are mostly held behind closed doors because of its smaller standing committee. The experienced administrator has been the party secretary of two provinces and a member of the Politburo since 2012. Longtime Party political theorist Wang Huning has served on the Politburo Standing Committee since 2017, rising from fifth position
, reflecting his status as one of Xi's top advisers. Dubbed the "brains behind the throne," the 67-year-old former university professor has developed ideologies for three current and former Chinese presidents and is the architect of Xi's "Dream China" slogan and the country's more assertive foreign policy. . Politics. In one of his most famous works, America vs. America, he advocated the inevitable demise of the United States due to rebellious cultural values like the decline of and individuality. Dualism.
Current Beijing party leader Cai Qi has been promoted to the Standing Committee and will head the General Secretariat, which manages the party's day-to-day affairs, according to a membership list released by the Xinhua News Agency. . The 66-year-old is considered a close political ally of Xi due to his collaboration with him in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. His tenure was more varied and challenging than some of his predecessors. It brought the 2022
Beijing Winter Olympics on time and with relatively few interruptions, and has implemented Xi's "zero-COVID" strategy without causing the kind of mass riots seen in Shanghai. A native of Fujian, he is considered one of the party's top intellectuals and holds a PhD in political economy from Fujian Normal University, while also proving to be a competent manager.
As head of the General Bureau since 2017, Ding Xuexiang occupies one of the most important bureaucratic positions in the party, with extensive control over information and access to officials. This implies that Xi has a high level of trust in him and in Ding. He is often one of the few officials to attend sensitive meetings with the general secretary. This has earned him the nicknames "Xi's alter ego" and "Chief of Staff of Xi". The 60-year-old has never been the provincial leader of the
Party. or governor, making his appointment an effective reward for his loyalty to Xi. The pair became close when Ding served on the Shanghai Party Committee (Xi was Shanghai's top Party leader in 2007-2008) and moved to Beijing to work as Xi's personal secretary. in 2013.
"When Xi's two secretaries head the State Council [of the government]...it will no longer be parallel to the party but simply one [of] many institutions led by the party and Xi," Zhang tweeted. The current member of the Politburo and Party chief of Guangdong Province's economic powerhouse has been promoted to the Standing Committee in a much-anticipated appointment by observers.
Li, 66, was confirmed in a list released by Xinhua as head of the powerful Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, the party's powerful anti-corruption regulator. Li is considered a confidante of Xi, having known him since the 1980s after working as the secretary of a close ally of Xi's father, revolutionary leader Xi Zhongxun. He also established a power base in Shaanxi, Xi's ancestral province.